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Books about Mythology?

PharezonStruggle is an illusion.Victory is in the Qun.Registered Userregular

Recently after having seen Hellboy 1 & 2 and watching some Samurai Jack episodes I've become interested in mythology from around the world. The only problem is I don't where to start. So denizens of H&A what books should I start with?

Agreed. Edith Hamilton's Mythology is fairly good, and it's easy to read. It focuses on Greek mythology mostly, with the Roman counterparts as well. There's a little bit on Norse Mythology also. There's also the famous Bulfinch's Mythology.

This remind me that I've had a book on Celtic Mythology for a while that I need to read.

A good place to start otherwise might be to go to your local library and look up "mythology." Chances are that they may be grouped together, then you can decide what looks interesting and what doesn't in a quick flip through.

The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell is not just one of the best mythology books you'll ever read but one of the best period. It's not a straight up "these are what the myths are," but it's definitely along the lines of what you're looking for.

Joseph Campbell was one of the first people to deconstruct mythology and break it down into more broad aspects. It relates and describes the archetypes for all myths, old and new. It explains how myth relates to the culture and how they are really just the same myths retold in different ways, delving into the psychology and sociology behind them.

If you watched Hellboy and thought "Wow, I wish I could just read some more good stories", then Campbell will bore you. Which are you looking for?

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PharezonStruggle is an illusion.Victory is in the Qun.Registered Userregular

Joseph Campbell was one of the first people to deconstruct mythology and break it down into more broad aspects. It relates and describes the archetypes for all myths, old and new. It explains how myth relates to the culture and how they are really just the same myths retold in different ways, delving into the psychology and sociology behind them.

If you watched Hellboy and thought "Wow, I wish I could just read some more good stories", then Campbell will bore you. Which are you looking for?

You also want to read stuff like the original Grimm fairytales. Tales of the Supernatural, I think that was the name, had a lot of cool weirdness from around the world as well. A lot of Mignolas stories are based in this stuff.